Barlow Wealth Partners Inc. Purchases New Holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Barlow Wealth Partners Inc. acquired a new position in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 3,130 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $219,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Rockline Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Southern during the fourth quarter worth $1,945,000. Savant Capital LLC grew its position in shares of Southern by 4.3% during the 4th quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 65,937 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,624,000 after buying an additional 2,691 shares during the period. Zullo Investment Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Southern by 4.8% in the 4th quarter. Zullo Investment Group Inc. now owns 3,437 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $241,000 after acquiring an additional 157 shares during the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC boosted its stake in Southern by 5.8% during the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 14,856 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,045,000 after acquiring an additional 819 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Apella Capital LLC acquired a new position in Southern during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $301,000. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $76.00 price target (up from $72.00) on shares of Southern in a research report on Monday, April 1st. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $80.00 price target on shares of Southern in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. UBS Group cut Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $78.00 to $76.00 in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Barclays increased their target price on Southern from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Finally, Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of Southern from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Southern presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $74.71.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 9,126 shares of Southern stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.04, for a total transaction of $684,815.04. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 121,504 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,117,660.16. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.92, for a total transaction of $344,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 126,528 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,720,309.76. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 9,126 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.04, for a total transaction of $684,815.04. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 121,504 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,117,660.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 19,126 shares of company stock valued at $1,364,115 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Southern Stock Up 2.0 %

Shares of Southern stock traded up $1.48 on Tuesday, reaching $76.95. 8,919,194 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,824,416. The Southern Company has a one year low of $61.56 and a one year high of $77.07. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67. The company has a 50-day moving average of $70.78 and a 200 day moving average of $69.82. The company has a market capitalization of $84.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.88, a PEG ratio of 4.75 and a beta of 0.48.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The utilities provider reported $1.03 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $6.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.59 billion. Southern had a net margin of 16.74% and a return on equity of 12.07%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.79 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 3.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 20th will be paid a $0.72 dividend. This is a positive change from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 17th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.74%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is currently 72.35%.

About Southern

The Southern Company, through its subsidiaries, engages in the generation, transmission, and distribution of electricity. The company also develops, constructs, acquires, owns, and manages power generation assets, including renewable energy projects and sells electricity in the wholesale market; and distributes natural gas in Illinois, Georgia, Virginia, and Tennessee, as well as provides gas marketing services, gas distribution operations, and gas pipeline investments operations.